Hydrainer Pumps - Sound Attenuation for Hydraulic Power

Background

Hydrainer are a leading manufacturer of hydraulic submersible pumps. They provide a rental service for infrastructure projects such as water treatment plants and sewage works, as well as large development projects such as the Olympic Site and London’s CrossRail.

For 15 years, Hydrainer had been using the same company to supply attenuation canopies for their power units. Having seen the quality of Amcanu’s enclosures in the field, Hydrainer saw an opportunity to significantly improve the specification of their own products.

"In order to maintain a reputation for market leading quality products, Hydrainer decided it was an opportune moment to design a brand new attenuation enclosure from the ground up with the assistance of Amcanu and their team."

Challenge

In order to maintain a reputation for market leading quality products, Hydrainer decided it was an opportune moment to design a brand new attenuation enclosure from the ground up with the assistance of Amcanu and their team.

Attenuating hydraulic power presented a significant challenge. Typically suction pumps run at 1500 to 1800rpm, whereas hydraulic power units can run as high as 2500rpm – resulting in more noise and higher frequencies. Installing a hydraulic power unit into an existing enclosure designed for a suction pump, simply wouldn’t have provided the necessary sound attenuation levels.

After consultation with their customers, it was agreed that Hydrainer’s new enclosures would be developed with metal skids instead of wheels. The cushioning effect of the tyres on the previous enclosures reduced resonance and positively contributed to sound attenuation levels. It was important that the new enclosure design was at least as effective as the old design – setting the minimum benchmark for sound attenuation at 70dB(A) at 1m.

Designing a new enclosure specifically for the rental market, which is notoriously hard on industrial equipment, also presented the opportunity for cost savings. The enclosure design Hydrainer had been using for 15 years was based on a monocoque construction and if damaged, was very expensive to repair. A modular design with easy-to-replace panels would reduce Hydrainer’s repair bills, but noise leaking from panel joints would make it even harder to achieve the necessary attenuation levels.

The benchmark was set high – Amcanu and Hydrainer had to collaborate to develop an entirely new concept of sound attenuation enclosure that was ideal for the hydraulic pump rental market.

Solution

Designing from the ground up, provided a rare opportunity to draw from the experience of the entire team and deliver Amcanu’s most advanced product to-date. Recognising that this was an ambitious sound attenuation project, Amcanu and Hydrainer worked in partnership with technical teams modelling ideas, and production teams exploring options on the factory floor; experimenting with scales, adding bulkheads, increasing insulation, re-channelling airflows and removing moving parts.

“Britain leads the world in sound attenuation and, it’s my belief that the enclosure Hydrainer and Amcanu have developed is the most effective attenuation enclosure ever made for a hydraulic power unit. We achieved everything we set out to achieve and built the best in the business.”

JA Barden
Company Chairman,Hydrainer Pumps Ltd

Easy-to-Repair Modular Construction

The new enclosure is entirely modular with every panel being easy to remove and replace. Supplied with a technical manual with exploded views and numbered parts, Hydrainer are able to easily order and replace panels themselves, including all surface panels, corner posts, doors and all access hatches.

Accessible Service & Maintenance

Service and maintenance access is a key consideration for the rental market. Removable panels were designed to access, and even replace, all major components including radiators and control units. Secondary equipment access hatches have also been built-in to the bund.

Adaptable Sizing

By providing additional mounting kits, Hydrainer are now able to accommodate a number of different sized power units within a single enclosure design – simplifying their range with fewer enclosure designs to maintain.

Effective Sound Attenuation

Insulating foam was laminated in an entirely new way with an additional acoustic membrane to prevent the higher frequency noise leaking from panel joints. The lamination technique has resulted in far greater control of insulation, ensuring it’s positioned exactly where it’s needed.

Greater Fuel Utilisation

Building on Hydrainer’s relationship with ‘Fuel Active’, the fuel tank and fuel intake system have been designed to actively eliminate machine breakdown due to dirty fuel. The tank design utilises a larger percentage of the tanks capacity, meaning the pumps now operate for longer before needing to be refuelled.

Improved Health & Safety

Damaged enclosures can present very real risks to health & safety, from rough metal edges to the overall loss of structural integrity. Hydrainer are now able to respond quickly to accidental damage and ensure their rental products don’t present health & safety risks to their rental customers.

Quality Branded Finish

Finished in durable yellow powder-coated paint to match Hydrainer’s brand, the new enclosures are easily identifiable and look the part – supporting Hydrainer’s positioning as the leading provider of submersible pumps.

Results

The numbers speak for themselves; 70dB(A) at 1m, 63dB(A) at 5m and 58dB(A) at 7m.

After a couple of years in the rental market, the old enclosures tended to show their age and maintenance was a challenge – proving costly.

Hydrainer are now able to make stronger and better substantiated claims in tenders for large framework agreements; enclosures are more cost effective to repair, pumps run longer between refuelling, they’re more efficient with less down-time, the noise pollution is lower than the industry standard and their products have been designed with health & safety in mind. Hydrainer worked with Amcanu to make their business case even more compelling and, as a result, have not been forced to differentiate themselves on price.

“Amcanu have welcomed our input in overcoming challenges and we’ve worked together to build an awesome product. They’ve proved they can deliver and now we’re looking forward to working with Amcanu to extend our product range.”